Structure of Origins
by Neko-Former
Summary: Ratchet and Ironhide are two little younglings who have been abused and abandoned by their creators. Will they survive alone in the streets? Will anyone notice them? And why would their creators beat them like that? Read to find out!
1. Abandoned

**Structure of Origins Chapter One: Abandoned**

Two little younglings slept peacefully in a small bundle in the corner of a dirty old alley. That was no place for younglings, but where else could they go? Their creators had abandoned them and they had to find shelter on their own. They didn't want to go to the orphanage because if they did, they would be separated. They were only five years old and they to lived on their own.

The red and white youngling thrashed and struggled in his recharge underneath his red and gray brother. He was prone to having frequent nightmares.

The slightly larger red and gray youngling woke with a start to his brother yelling and thrashing around in his sleep. "Hu? Ratchet? Ratchet wake up! Yer doin' it again!" He cried, frantically shaking his brother from recharge.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was having a nightmare again." The red and white youngling apologized.

"Th' same one again?" His brother asked.

"The very same."

"Grrrrrrr." The red and gray youngling growled lowly. "Seriously. If we eva see our creators again, I'll teach 'em a lesson 'bout hurtin' you." He drawled in his thick accent. He really did talk funny for a youngling.

"Forget it. We'll never see them again and you know that." Ratchet sighed sadly and sat up, bringing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them, weeping softly.

"Ratch'," The red and gray youngling started. "Yer still upset? Dey hurt ya."

"I know, Ironhide, but I still miss them. They're our creators. That'll never change."

"Dey left us on the side o' tha curb! They abused ya for four years an' left us on da side o' tha curb ta die! Tha only reason dey left meh alone is 'cause ah'm more threatinin' than ya are!"

Ratchet's huge youngling optics welled up with coolant tears. "'Hide… I know what they did. You think I'm that stupid? I was the one that they were abusing!"

"Then why miss dem?"

"I miss the real them, the creators we had when we were first sparked, the way they used to be…" Ratchet trailed off, squeezing his knees tight and choking on his sobs.

"Ahm sorry Ratch'. Ah know what ya meant. Ah just could neva forgive dem fer hurtin' my brother. Ah just can't." Ironhide shook his head and looked down to the ground.

"S'okay," Ratchet said as he got up, leaned forward, and pulled his brother into a warm embrace. "You didn't mean to hurt my feelings." He mumbled into his brother's shoulder where he was resting his head. He pulled away and they both went back to sleep, Ironhide always keeping slightly alert. He meant it when he said he would never let anyone hurt Ratchet again.


	2. Stranger Danger

**SOO Chapt. 2: Stranger Danger**

Ratchet blinked his optics open and yawned sleepily. "Huh…" He sighed peacefully and surveyed his surroundings, only to find that Ironhide was gone. "Brother! Brother where are you?" He shouted frantically as he searched around for his red and gray sibling. "Ironhide!" He shouted, optics tearing up.

"Ratchet! Ratch', it's okay! Ahm right here." The red and gray youngling yelled as he ran back to his brother.

"Where did you go?" Ratchet asked warily.

"Ah wen't to get you some energon." His brother pulled out a cube of energon from his subspace compartment.

Ratchet took the cube only after Ironhide confirmed that he had a cube to drink too. He took a few small sips and then drank the whole thing, very hungry after not eating in months.

"Easy, Ratch'. Ya don' wanna get yer tanks upset." Th red and gray youngling laughed as his brother guzzled down the bright pink liquid. He stroked over his brother's chevron as he drank, keeping him calm. He had had anxiety issues ever since their creators had started abusing him. He didn't deserve it. He used to b e so fun and joke around with him until their creators started beating him. Now he was jumpier than a turbo-squirrel.

Suddenly, a noise sounded from behind the two in the alley, and Ratchet jumped. Ironhide kept him down though; whatever was there didn't need to know that they were there, especially if they were hostile.

The rustling got louder and louder until three large mechs came out. "Well, well…" The largest one sneered. "What do we have here? Two little lost younglings, eh? How sad." He gave a fake pouty face and approached the younglings.

Poor Ratchet was shaking so badly his armour rattled. He hid behind his brother, hoping that the larger youngling would protect him.

Ironhide growled lowly in his vocalizer. These worthless gang mechs weren't going to even touch Ratchet. "Y'all lay one hand on mah brotha', ya get served."

"Oh, is that so?" The large scary mech asked. "Well, what's a little youngling gonna do to us?"

Ironhide pulled a gun from subspace. "What's this say to y'all?"

"Where the heck did you get that!" Ratchet whispered.

"Uh, found it." He replied hastilly as he pulled out ammo from his subspace too.

"A'right, 'nyone brave nuff ta challenge meh now?" Ironhide drawled.

"Okay, pipsqueak, you wanna go? Let's go." The largest mech advanced on Ironhide, pulling out a switchblade.

"Please tell me you know how to use that, 'Hide." Ratchet said uneasily.

"Nope, not a clue. But Ah'ma gonna faind out, now aren't I?" Ironhide laughed.

"He could kill you with that!" Ratchet snapped back, worried.

"Yeah, and Ah could kill him too, now couldn't Ah?"

"'Hide! I'm serious!"

"Ah'm not gonna back down, Ratchet."

"Please, be careful."

"Fahn. Ah'll be carefull."

"Hey, squirt! We gonna do this or what?" The large gang mech called out.

In response, Ironhide took his ammo, loaded his gun, and fired, holding the trigger down to fire rappidly, pelting the gangsters with acid bullets. "Haw's dis fer an answer?" He shouted as the gang mechs all bolted- all but one, that is. The leader was dogging the bullets perfectly, not even getting any grazes on him or anything.

"Ha! You've got worse aim than a cross-eyed turbo-fox!" Shouted the tall dark mech as he ran at Ratchet as his brother was reloading.

"Ironhide!" Ratchet shrieked as the gang mech took his switch-blade and stabbed him in the shoulder, dragging it down to reveal delicate circuits and wires, mortally wounding him. "GAAAAHHHHH!" He shouted, recogniseing the feeling instantly as pain, only thanks to their cruel creators.

"RATCHET!" Ironhide shouted, horrified at the sight of his brother being ripped apart. He suddenly raged and ran at the gang mech. "Ah told ya ya'd be in trouble if ya touched 'im, an' now yer gonna get it!" He yelled as he aimed his gun right at the back of the gang leader's head and fired repeatedly until he fell to the ground in a pool of energon.

Ratchet grabbed his shoulder and cried in pain. Ironhide pointed the gun at the other two gangsters to intimidate them and said: "Well? Ya want some too, or are ya gonna leave meh alone now?"

The two mechs looked at each other, at their dead leader, and then at Ironhide, probably in shock, and ran.

"Ah'm sorry Ratchet, Ah'll get ya some halp fer dat wound. C'mon." He soothed his crying brother by stroking his sensitive chevron.

Ratchet purred. "It was out of… your control…" He said.


	3. Meeting

**SOO Chapt. 3: Meeting**

**FORWARD:**

I introduced a new character in this chapter. Alerrt is made up. I created him, not the author of my novel study book, however, the concepts behind any character, cannon or otherwise, belong to Hasbro as they created Transformers. Also, be warned: In this chapter there be loads of fluffy cuteness. So prepare to 'awwwwww'. Also, Alerrt is spelled like that on purpose. I like the way the double 'r's look, okay?

Ratchet woke with an intense pain in his shoulder and his brother still stroking his chevron. That must've been what passed him out, he thought, because his chevron was very sensitive. He purred as he tried to sit up. "Ow!" Okay, bad idea. His shoulder was killing him. "Ironhide?" Ratchet wanted to see if his brother was still 'here'. He would drift off absently sometimes, appearing to be there, but not quite.

"Ironhide, are you here?" He asked again.

"Huh, wha? Yeah, Ah'm here." His brother replied, shocked out of his daze.

"My shoulder hurts." Ratchet pouted.

"Well yeah, ya were just stabbed ya know." Ironhide retorted.

Suddenly another rustling noise sounded from behind the two.

"We have got to… nghrr… stop falling asleep here!" Ratchet struggled to his feet and groaned.

"Agreed." Ironhide held out his hand to help up his brother.

The two whipped around to see the intruder, Ironhide pulling out his gun again. He silently decided that from now on he was always going to carry at least some form of a weapon. It was too dangerous otherwise.

They were not expecting what came next. Out of the shadows came running a tall red and white mech, probably late for work or something. "Who's that?" Ratchet asked and his brother shrugged. "Aow should Ah know?"

Alerrt ran as fast as he could, taking a shortcut through a dark alley. He was late for work… again! His boss would kill him when he found out! _Oh well, _thought the red and white medic. _At least I'm able to find the stupid place today! _ However, he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw two small, dirty, bleeding, and very tired looking younglings hiding in the alley.

The two younglings kept close to each other, the white and red one shaking. The medic crouched down and approached them slowly and carefully, showing that he wasn't to be feared. "Hello there," He said, holding out his shiny black hand. The red and gray youngling moved in front of the trembling red and white one, holding a gun to his side.

"Hey, there's no need for violence. I won't hurt you." The young medic approached cautiously, wary of the fact that one of them was badly hurt, gesturing to the gun. He guessed they were brothers because of their similar frame type, or at least somehow related.

The red and gray youngling looked back at the other one, probably checking to see whether it was alright to subspace the gun.

The red and white must've given the okay, because his brother subspaced the gun and gave a few nervous clicks at Alerrt.

"That's it… come closer. I'm just here to help." The youngling listened and came up to him clicking and whirring, as if lost for words. "I know, I know. You're frightened." The youngling squeaked when Alert picked him up and began to flail his limbs around helplessly. "Shhu, I won't hurt you." Alerrt had forgotten all about being late for his job. In fact, even his sour mood was gone.

Alert felt a little hand pat his leg and looked down, suddenly remembering the injured white and red youngling. He set the red and gray one down and motioned to pick up his sibling.

Ratchet was startled. Why was this stranger trying to grab him? "Meep!" He backed up and hid behind Ironhide. "'Hide… who is he?"

"Ah dunno, but he seems a'ight."

"You sure?" Ratchet quieried.

"Yeah, he won't hurt us, ah don't think." Ironhide assured his brother.

"O-okay, I g-guess…" Ratchet bravely peeped out from behind his brother to cautiously walk up to the stranger with big, wide nervous optics.

Alerrt watched as the two younglings shared a conversation and smiled when the red and white one came back out from behind his brother. "Hello there." He said and held out his raven black hand, realising that he had a chip in the side of it. _Now, where did that come from? _Thought Alerrt as he brought his hand up to inspect it. _Oh well. _He laid it back out for the youngling so he wouldn't be afraid.

The youngling took his steps tentatively towards Alerrt. "It's alright, see? I won't hurt you." Alerrt tried to convince the youngling to not be afraid.

The youngling got close enough to Alerrt to see that he wasn't only bleeding from the shoulder. His hands were also crushed, and it looked like they had been for awhile. Even if they were repaired now, because he hadn't been seen to sooner, his hands would always be extremely sensitive.*

Alerrt was shocked when the youngling began inspecting the small scratch on his hand. "What are you doing, little one?" He asked.

The youngling replied, the most adorable look of concern on his face, "Your hand is hurt…" His optics were wide with concern and his itty bitty crushed hands started going over Alerrt's much larger one. "You should put a bandage on it."

Alerrt was resisting the sudden urge to go 'awwww' at the youngling's concern for him, meanwhile his own shoulder was still bleeding, even though he could see that it had been loosely bandaged, probably by his brother.

Alerrt took out his medical kit and gave it to the youngling, letting him do whatever.

The youngling took out a bandage and wrapped Alerrt's hand in it. Then he did something rather unexpected; he planted a little kiss on the bandage.

"All better!" The red and white youngling announced when he was done, his brother chuckling in the background.

Alerrt picked up the youngling and said, "Thank you." Then he went to gather his medical kit and the other youngling and hurried off to work when he remembered now that he was going to be in a lot of trouble if he didn't hurry. _At least they can't get mad at me when they see the younglings. _He thought as he raced to work with the younglings cuddled up safely in his arms.


	4. A New Responsibility

**SOO Chapt. 4**

Ratchet turned to Ironhide as the strange mech carried them off. "Where do you *hah* think he's taking us?" He yawned, suddenly tired from energon loss.

"Dunno, but ah trust 'im. Why did ya do that?" Ironhide said

"Do what?" Asked Ratchet.

"Ya fixed up 'is hand. Ah couldn't see anythin' wrong."

"There was a chip in it. Medic hands are sensitive.*"

"Ah."

"What are you two babbling about, hmm?" The strange red and white mech asked with that kind tone to his voice.

"Mew!" Ratchet made a strange mewing sound at him and nuzzled into his chest.

"Heh, okay we're almost there." The stranger told the younglings.

"Almost where? Where are ya takin' us?" Ironhide asked.

"Well, little one, I have to work, but I can't leave you two alone. So, I'm taking you to the hospital with me so I can go to work and keep a close eye on you." The large red and white Praxian mech replied.

Ratchet squealed and started struggling when he heard this; their sire had been a medic. He had used his tools to hurt his child. Ratchet was now terrified of doctors.

"What's wrong, little one? Gettling restless?" Alerrt questioned the youngling.

"Nope, he ain't restless, he's just scared." The red and gray one explained.

"Scared?" Alerrt asked.

"Yea. Our sire was a medic. He used to use his tools ta beat mah brotha'."

"Why beat him and not you?"

"Easy. Ah'm scary. He's not." The red and gray pointed to his shaking brother.

"Your creators were abusive…" It was more a statement than a question.

"Yeah."

*silence*

"Well, here we are." Alerrt declaired, after a few moments of grueling silence.

"Nononononononononono! I won't go in!" The little red and white youngling wailed.

"Shhhuu, it's okay." Alerrt tried to calm him down.

"Ah got 'im." The red and gray youngling said as he reached for his brother's helm. Curious as to what he was going to do, Alerrt stood and watched patiently as this happened.

"Shhuuu, Ratch'. S'okay. Ya don' haft a be scared." The red and gray youngling cooed as he rubbed a hand over the shivvering red and white's black chevron.

Alerrt watched, amazed, as the shivering little youngling in his arms instantly relaxed.

"Works every taim." His brother explained.

"Wow. I didn't know an ornament could be so sensitive." Alerrt was surprised.

"Ya'll be able ta look at 'im naow." The youngling drawled.

"Oh, ah- right. Let's get you two inside and cleaned up." Alerrt said, watching the red and white youngling being lulled into a peaceful recharge.

Ratchet woke in a bright white room with his brother stroking his chevron- yet again. _Why must I fall for that every time? _The youngling thought as he sat up. His finely tuned audio sensors could hear talking just outside the room.

"Now, let me get this straight- You were late for work, yet again, I might add, because you found two abandoned children in a dark alleyway who had been beaten and nearly starved to death?" A strange voice asked.

"Yes sir. If you would like to see them, they're in here." Ratchet recognized the voice of the mech who had took them from the alley.

"I think I would just like to see these 'younglings', Alerrt. Show me, now." So his name was Alerrt. Cool name. It was better than being named after a tool.

The door to the white room opened revealing Alerrt and the stranger he was talking to, probably a manager or co-worker.

Said mech stopped dead when he saw the two hungry, tired, beat up looking younglings on the table.

"We- well done, Alerrt." He studdered.

"Well done?" Alerrt questioned.

"You've managed to save these younglings' lives. Now that they're here, they can be taken care of properly. Well done."

"Thank you sir."

"But, they are your responsibility. I want you to see how much you can do yourself for them. But if you need help, don't be afraid to ask for it. There are lives on the line, here."

Ratchet was relieved to hear this. Alerrt was trustable. He didn't know any others here. He relaxed considerably knowing that Alerrt would be taking care of them.

"Yessir." Alerrt said as he moved to the table. "I will not let them down." He began stroking at Ratchet's chevron, causing the youngling to purr.

Ironhide just sat, silently through this, talking to Ratchet through their twin bond.

::Hey, Ratch'?::

::Yeah, Ironhide?::

::Ah think we're safe here.::

::I think so too, at least for now. We'll see who else comes into play. I'm still nervous about being here.::

::Ah, relax Ratch'. We're gonn' be fain.::

::Oh, alright. But if he does anything I blame it on you.::

::Ha, ya always have tha right ta. Ah'm s'posed ta protect ya.::

::And you always do, brother. You always do.::


	5. A Reason For Everything, No Excuses

**SOO Chapt. 5: A Reason For Everything, But Still No Excuse**

Okay, so this is it for now. I hope you like and I will continue this with the next assignment.

Alerrt gently stroked over the red and white youngling's shoulder with a damp cloth, cleaning out the wound as he lay contently on his brother's shoulder. He was quite pleased that his boss hadn't freaked out too bad. It would've scared the younglings. He suddenly realized that he didn't even know their names, and neither did they know his!

"Younglings," He started. "I realized that I don't know your names, do you mind telling me?"

"Sure! Ah'm Ironhide, and mah brotha's name is Ratchet." The red and gray youngling replied.

"Huh, wha?" Ratchet was roused from his resting.

"Nothin', Ratch' he just wanted ta know our names is all." Ironhide told him.

"Oh, well that seems fair, considering we know his already." Ratchet said.

"Wait, you already know my name? How?" Alerrt asked, confused.

"Ah, I heard you and that other mech talking outside. I believe he called you… Alerrt?" Ratchet explained.

"Oh. Your hearing must be quite acute for you to have heard that, little one. Well done. And yes, my name is Alerrt." Alerrt said. "I suppose you also heard that I'm going to be taking care of the two of you then, hmm?"

"Yep! I'm glad. I don't trust many doctors." Ratchet said.

"Wait, he's takin' care o' us? Cool." Ironhide cut in.

"I certainly am, little one, and that means you two need to listen to me, okay?" Alerrt informed.

Both younglings nodded their tiny heads.

"Good. Then you two rest up while I go get some supplies, alright?"

"Kay." Ratchet said as he snuggled into Ironhide.

"I'll be back."

"He's nice." Ratchet said to his brother as he snuggled into him.

"Yea, he is, isn't he?" Ironhide agreed as he stroked his brother's chevron.

"Mmm, quit doing that, 'Hide. You make me pass out when you do." Ratchet said.

"Quit doin' what?" Ironhide teased as he continued to stroke Ratchet's chevron located on his forehead.

"_That_, quit doing _that!_"

"What, quit strokin' yer chevron? But you like it."

"I do not! *purrrrrrr*"

"See? Ya do like it. Yer purrin' like a cybercat."

"Grrrr, cut it out!"

"Heh, okay Ratch'. Ah'll stop."

"Thank you. Don't you dare ever tell anyone that that's my weak spot, or I'll whack you in the head with Alerrt's tools.*"

"Hey, now that's just unnecessary."

"I mean unless you tell Alerrt. I trust him. But only him."

"Kay. He'll be th' only one who knows."

"Thank you."

Alerrt carried the supplies he would need for the younglings back to the room.

"Alright, I'm back." He announced as he set the supplies down and went to get Ratchet.

Ratchet squeaked and hid away from him. Alerrt was confused. "Hey, what's wrong?" He asked.

Ratchet only backed farther away.

"What happened here? I thought you trusted me."

*whimper*

"*sigh* Okay, you remember me, right? I'm Alerrt."

"…"

"What happened here? You did trust me, and now look at you. Come on. I wouldn't hurt you."

Now, Ratchet's actions may sound irrational to someone who didn't know, but he was very scared that Alerrt would become like their creators. Sure they had been kind at first, and he loved them, but unfortunately, something happened to make them insane. Ratchet didn't know what it was called at the time, but his creators had come down with a rare illness that caused them to go insane called Dark Syndrome. Their optics would go pitch black and leak energon and they would attack anything they could. That usually meant Ratchet.

Dark Syndrome had no cure, and no one knew why and how anyone got it, but it was thought to be either a disease that came from being depressed for too long, or from a government experiment gone horribly wrong and released toxins into the air that some cybertronians were highly allergic to. It was not contagious, but it slowly warps the victim's processor until all thoughts other than thoughts of evil left them for good and they slowly withered and died in their insanity.

The answer for Ratchet's actions towards Alerrt was clear- He feared that he would come down with Dark Syndrome.

::Ironhide, what if he gets Dark Syndrome like our creators did?::

::A'ight, Ratch' now yer just paranoid.::

/:/Well, I'm just saying, it _could _happen.::

::Yea, it could, but it won'.::

::How do you know? No one knows how people get it or why. He really could-::

::Dis mech saved us from tha streets! Now quit bein' overprotective, dat's mah job!::

::Oh, fine.::

Ratchet cautiously crawled up to Alerrt and pulled his head down do he could check his optics. _All fine so far, no black, and not oozing energon. Alright. Fine Ironhide, you win._

He sat down and let Alerrt come close to him and fix the dents in his hands. Then he fixed his shoulder. Ratchet had to admit, he did feel better after being repaired.

"There, all done." Alerrt announced as he finished.

The youngling looked up at him with thankfulness in his optics as he rejoined his brother.

"Now, your hands will never lose their sensitivity because of the amount of injury they sustained for so long, but don't worry. There are lots of functionings that require the skill your hands will give. And judging by the way you repaired my hand, you shouldn't have much trouble being a medic of some sort, or an engineer. You are very intelligent." Alerrt said.

"That makes sense." Ratchet started. "My sire was a medic, but he became insane. It would make much sense to do it right unlike him."

"Hmmm, you said he became insane? Why was that?" Alerrt asked.

"Uh, um… Dark Syndrome…" Ratchet muttered.

"Oh. Sorry to hear that. What of your carrier?"

"She got it too…"

"Oh. So… that's why you…"

"Yes."

Alerrt looked at the younglings in a new light now. He hadn't realized that their creators had done this traumatizing to them. _There's more to these two than I had originally realized…_


	6. If You Break It

**SOO Chapt.6 If You Break It…**

Alerrt was showing the younglings some of his equipment to pass the time. Ironhide didn't seem all that interested, although his brother was very fascinated with it.

"What's this do?" Ratchet asked as he poked a large monitor machine.

"Well, that is a power core monitor little one, and it tells me if anything's wrong with my patient's power core." Alerrt replied.

"Why would something be wrong?" Ratchet asked with optics full of interest.

"Well, if they're sick or injured, sometimes it will malfunction. The monitor plugs into their medical port and makes a beeping sound if something goes wrong." Alerrt explained.

Ratchet's little optics widened in interest and he giggled when Alerrt pressed the test button used to make sure the machine was working properly and made it beep.

"Why're ya so interested in dat thing anyway?" Ironhide asked his brother.

"Imagine how many bots' lives this thing saves, 'Hide." Ratchet said. "I want to do that when I grow up. I want to fix what our creator did wrong."

"Ya can't do dat when yer scared o' medics yerself?" Ironhide questioned

"'Hide! You weren't supposed to say that!" Ratchet pouted.

"Well, it's true…"

"Ironhide!"

"Hey, no need for fighting, Ratchet. And there's nothing wrong with being afraid. I know many doctors who are afraid to let anyone else repair them. They just do it themselves, that's all. But it would be wise to grow out of it though." Alerrt cut in.

"Don't worry, you won't always be afraid of doctors, Ratchet. And I think the more you stay around here, the more you'll see that your sire was only deranged. No medics I know are like that, so it's all good."

"Squee!" Ratchet seemed happy with the idea.

"Good. Now, do you want to see what my other tools and machines do?" Alerrt asked.

"Yes please!" Ratchet said excitedly.

"Alright then. Let's go look at some of my tools I use for repairs." Alerrt said.

"Yay! Come on 'Hide!" Ratchet beckoned his brother.

"A'ight." Ironhide said more enthusiastically, happy to see something interest his brother so much.

After seeing all the machines and tools, Alerrt took the younglings home to his apartment for the night. Ratchet seemed very content to sit and play with Alerrt's wrench in the corner, un-tightening and re-tightening bolts in his arm.

"Ratchet why don't you come over here and have some energon, sweetie?" Alerrt asked the youngling.

"Kay." Ratchet said as he abandoned the wrench in favour of his energon, then seemed to think better of it as he ran back half way to retrieve it.

"You know, you seem to like that wrench an awful lot. I have others, so why don't you keep that one?*" Alerrt suggested.

"Squee!" Ratchet squeaked with joy as he hugged the wrench and went to sit beside his brother who was happily drinking his energon.

"Here." Alerrt placed a small cube of mid-grade in Ratchet's small cherry red hands. "It's just mid-grade because high-grade is bad for younglings. It can make you sick." Alerrt explained.

Ratchet lapped at the swirling pink contents of the cube with his little glossa.

"Heh, you two sure do like that, huh?" Alerrt stroked Ratchet and then Ironhide both on the shoulders before drawing back to ponder for a moment. He had just taken on the responsibility of a sire, and was only twenty-three himself. Ironhide suddenly tackled his brother to the floor and the two rolled around chasing each other into another room of the apartment. _What am I going to do with them?_ Alerrt thought amusedly.

A sudden yelp of pain drew him from his wondering, worried that one of Ratchet's delicate hands had been damaged in the younglings' horseplay.

"Are you two alright? What happened?" Alerrt stopped dead however when he saw the scene before him. Ironhide, the stronger of the two brothers was plopped on the ground, in tears, grabbing at his arm. Ratchet was prodding at his brother, trying to get a better look.

"Lemme see." Ratchet said as he tried to get his brother to let go of his arm.

"No, Ahm fain." The red and gray youngling sniffled.

"Let. Me. See." His brother ordered this time with an authority to his tone that belonged in a CMO, not a youngling.

"Okaaay." Ironhide sighed and let his brother poke around in his arm and get a better look at what had caused his brother to cry out like that. Ratchet rooted around inside a panel in his brother's arm until he let out a triumphant 'Aha!' and found the source of the problem.

Alerrt, still too stunned to move was watching the whole scene with awe until he felt a little pat on his leg. "Huh?" He looked down to see that Ratchet was gently patting his leg, trying to open a panel Alerrt had showed him earlier that had tools in it. "Pliers." Ratchet said the word perfectly as Alerrt registered the request. He opened his leg and handed Ratchet the desired tool. "Thank you." Ratchet said as he went back to his brother.

Alerrt shook his head and looked back at the scene, this time daring to walk closer. He saw what Ratchet was doing with the pliers he had asked for. One of the wires in Ironhide's forearm had been twisted painfully and gotten stuck while they were roughhousing. Although the youngling didn't seem to be injured easily, he was a youngling, Alerrt had to remember. And there were two types when it came to injuries. The first type would show if they were injured, and the second would stubbornly hide it until it got bad. Ironhide seemed to stay firmly in the latter group, Alerrt thought.

Alerrt watched Ratchet un-twist the wire with delicate precision and close up the panel. Then he hugged his brother, who promptly begun to struggle in his hold, clearly not liking the fact that he was being babied.

"Aww, c'mon Ratch', stoppit." Ironhide complained as his brother snuggled him.

"But this is my prescription, a healthy dose of snuggles." Ratchet explained as he squeezed his brother and nuzzled into the crook of his neck.

"Mrph." Ironhide huffed and finally gave in. There was no way he would be able to get Ratchet to abandon him now, and he doubted in the future that Ratchet would really abandon anyone.


	7. To the Market

**SOO Chapt. 7**

**Author's Note: **I am so sorry guys. I got MAJOR writer's block and couldn't update for a few months. I'm back though and ideas are flowing through me like blood! :D Also, this chapter is pretty long. Making up for being MIA so long. XD

Alerrt put the younglings in a comfortable berth for the night and went back to the main room for a little research on Dark Syndrome. He settled on his couch and pulled out a datapad on rare disorders and diseases. "Hmm… Maybe I can find something on Dark Syndrome in here. I don't know much about it and if these two have dealt with it in the past, I had better catch up on the facts."

"Here it is, Dark Syndrome. Let's see…" _Dark Syndrome is a rare, serious disorder/disease/plague that attacks small parts of the possessor first, then moving on to take over the entire mind. No one is even certain what it is, although it is believed to originate from an experiment gone terribly wrong. Signs of Dark Syndrome include black liquid streaming from optics and seams, extremely aggressive behavior, loss of senses, and suicidal feelings and thoughts. _"Hmmm, so it's fairly new then… Wait, oh no." _ If a youngling has ever been exposed to Dark syndrome, it is believed that the disorder/disease/plague lies dormant in their circuitry and moves to their processors when they are adults. There is no known cure for Dark Syndrome, although, it is believed that replacement of the wiring inside the chest of a youngling exposed to it gets rid of any chances of infection. _

"So, I have to replace some of their circuits then… They might not like the sound of that." Alerrt thought of a way to do this without frightening them. "Well, they are recharging now… if I slipped a sedative into them, I could work on them then…" He decided. Alerrt immediately got up from the couch and tiptoed into the room where Ratchet and Ironhide were recharging. He walked up to the berth and took Ratchet's arm. He injected a sedative into his arm that would keep him asleep and took him into his small workspace in his own room.

"Ookay Ratchet, let's get these wires cut." He said, gently laying the recharging youngling on the table. "But of course, you can't hear me, you're recharging." He walked over to a drawer and pulled out the tools he'd need. "I'll have to be quick. I have to prevent his brother from getting Dark Syndrome too." He said to himself as he opened up the youngling's chest. "Aaahh, _that_ must be the dormant infection." Alerrt saw Ratchet's wiring had turned pitch black. He picked up his tools and begun replacing the wires.

Ratchet woke up with a very sore chest for some reason. He wondered what had happened the night before. He suddenly wondered where their alley had gone. "'Hide? 'Hide! Where are we?" He suddenly panicked and saw Ironhide was not beside him. A strange red and white Praxian was running into the room. "Ratchet! Ratchet are you alright?"

"Who are you?" Ratchet asked and backed away.

"It's me, Alerrt, remember?" The stranger said.

"A-Alerrt?" He asked.

"Yes. Now come with me into the kitchen. It's time for breakfast." Alerrt replied.

"Where's 'Hide?" Ratchet asked.

"He's in the kitchen waiting for breakfast." Alerrt answered.

Alerrt picked up the white and red youngling and took him to the kitchen where Ironhide was sitting on a stool at the counter. "'Hide!" He said excitedly.

Ironhide looked up from his energon. "Hey Ratch'!" He waved to his twin.

Alerrt sat Ratchet on the stool beside his brother and got some energon peco tea. It was safe for younglings to drink, and it was good for them too. Plus, it would warm up the younglings' insides and make them feel better. He still hadn't told them about cutting their wiring last night.

"Alright, this'll warm you both up." He said as he gave the two of them their tea.

Ratchet sniffed at the energon and took a sip, squeaking happily as it tasted nice.

Ironhide, seeing his brother's reaction, tried the tea as well.

"Okay, so as soon as you two finish up your tea, we have to go out to the market. Have you two ever been there?" Alerrt asked.

"Nah, we ain't ne'r been dere b'fore. We ne'r had 'ny credits to get 'nythin' with, so we di'nt bother." Ironhide replied as he finished his energon.

"Oh, well then this will be your first time going." Alerrt said.

"Yep." Ratchet agreed as he finished his energon.

"Oh, look at you two, you're both a mess. Let's get you cleaned up before we go." Alerrt picked up the two younglings in his arms and carried them to the washrack.

In the room there was one washrack and a small tub that could fit a single full grown mech. He placed them in the tub and turned on the solvent. The younglings looked amazed at the solvent filling the tub around them. Alerrt went over to a cabinet and returned with a washcloth some extra soap. "Let's get you two cleaned up." He squirted the soap into the solvent and turned off the flow. The younglings giggled at the bubbles.

"Heheh, yeah. Bubbles are fun, aren't they?" Alerrt said as he gently cleaned the two younglings with the cloth. Ratchet seemed to like it, but Ironhide squirmed a lot. "Hmm, you don't like this, do you? Well, it's alright. You two can have some energon goodies after if you behave."

That seemed to get the youngling to relax. Once the two were clean, Alerrt drained the tub and dried them off, sitting them on the couch. He noticed that between cleaning the younglings and making their tea, he had gotten himself pretty dirty. He went to take a shower himself and left the younglings in the room, telling them to sit still for five minutes while he cleaned up.

"'Hide," Ratchet asked. "Does your chest hurt too?"

"Yeah, mah chest kinda does hurt, now tha' cha mention it." Ironhide replied.

"It wasn't hurting before… You think Alerrt did anything to us?" Ratchet asked.

"Alerrt wouldn't do 'nything bad ta us." Ironhide said.

"I don't know… It really hurts." Ratchet said.

"Well then, why don' cha ask 'im?" Ironhide suggested, pointing to Alerrt, who was coming out of the washrack, rubbing himself down with a towel.

"Ask me what?" Alerrt questioned.

"Uumm… My chest kinda hurts, and so does Ironhide's. Do you know why?" He asked.

"Oh, that's right. Last night, I did a little research on Dark Syndrome. And I found that you two were in danger. I had to replace your wiring before it spread to your processor. I figured I'd do it while you were asleep rather than when you were awake." He explained.

"Oh, well, umm… Can we have some medicine… for the pain?" Ratchet asked.

"Aah, yes. I have some I can give you." Alerrt replied as he walked over to the medicine cabinet. "Okay sweeties, come here please." He said, taking out a bottle of pain medicine.

The younglings went over and stood at Alerrt's pedes. Alerrt picked Ratchet up and placed him on the counter. He opened the bottle and poured some medicine in a glass, mixing it with energon. "Okay, drink up."

Ratchet drank up the medicine gratefully. Alerrt then placed him on the floor and picked up Ironhide and gave him his medicine. "Thank you very much." Ratchet said as he wiped his mouth.

"Okay, so now you've eaten, you've been washed, and you've had some medicine. Now we're off to the market, right?" Alerrt said.

The younglings nodded.

"Alright, let's go then." Alerrt said.

Alerrt transformed with the younglings in his arms. They giggled as he set them on the ground. "Alright, we're here." He said. "I'm here to get a few things, so if you two see something that intrigues you, I would be happy to get it for you."

"Yes sir." Ratchet said.

"You don't have to call me sir either." Alerrt informed.

"O-okay." Ratchet smiled.

"Now you two stay close please. Some people here are a bit shady. So just stay close." Alerrt warned.

"A'ight, we'll stay close ta ya." Ironhide said.

"What do you need?" Ratchet asked.

"I need more sedative, some medical gauze, syringes and coolant." Alerrt said.

"Can we find that here?" Ratchet asked.

"Yeah, I've got a few suppliers here." Alerrt said. "Come on, we'll take the long way around so we can see if you two find anything that interests you."

They walked around to a lot of booths, looking at things, and when they came to a booth Alerrt needed to pick up supplies at, the mechs there were always friendly, especially to the younglings. One even gave them each a treat. They had picked up all the supplies they needed, and they were still looking around. "Do you two see anything you like?" Alerrt asked.

Ratchet and Ironhide looked around. They didn't see anything really, until Alerrt pointed out a toy dealer. "Look, over there. That mech is selling toys. Want to go see if there's anything you like?"  
>"Alright." Ratchet agreed as he, Alerrt and Ironhide walked over to the booth. There was nothing Ratchet really liked there, but Ironhide seemed to like a toy gun built to spray coolant rather than shooting anything.<p>

"Well, it's better than the gun you scared off the gang mechs with." Ratchet said.

"Okay, you like the gun?" Alerrt asked.

"Yeah, it's r'lly cool." Ironhide said.

Alerrt purchased the gun for Ironhide, and then they kept looking around for something for Ratchet. Ratchet wasn't really interested in anything though. So they were about to give up, when something suddenly caught Ratchet's optic. "What's that?" He asked Alerrt and pointed to some glowing crystal plants a mech was dealing.

"Those?" Alerrt started. "Those there, Ratchet, are domestic crystals. You grow them in little pots and they glow when they're healthy." He explained.

"So, you take care of them?" Ratchet asked.

"Yes. You need to take close care of them because they feed off energon. You need to give them fuel when they're hungry, collect dead crystals off the plant so it can grow new ones, and that's pretty much it." Alerrt replied.

"Can I have some?" Ratchet asked.

"Crystals? Sure, if you really want those." Alerrt was confused. Most younglings would rather have a toy or a music file, or a data file. But Ratchet wanted crystals to take care of. "Let's go pick out some crystals then."

They went up to the booth and Ratchet was immediately fascinated with the living plants. "They're so pretty." He said.

"Welcome. My name is Fireburst. What can I do for you?" The mech asked cheerfully. He was a bright gold and orange seeker with red glittery designs on his wings. His optics were a bright green colour and were very smiley.

"Well Fireburst, sir, my youngling here is intrigued by your crystals. He would like some to take care of. Can you help him find some he would like?" Alerrt asked the seeker.

"Why of course I can." The gold and orange seeker said, happily fluttering his wings. "It would be best to start out with a small plant, so he can watch it grow." Fireburst pulled out different styles of crystal, all different plants. "Here we are. Now, they're all just white because they take on the colour of whatever packet you mix with their energon. You can mix different colour packets together to create a multicolour combination too. Why don't you choose three colour packs with your first one to start?" He suggested.

"Okay, Ratchet. Choose which style of crystal you want, then you can choose the colour." Alerrt instructed.

"Okay." Ratchet examined the crystals carefully. They were all very healthy looking, and very beautiful. "Umm, can I have this one?" He pointed at a very small plant with three crystals on it. The crystals all grew in different styles.

"That one is very unique. It is the result of quite a bit of crossbreeding."Fireburst explained as he put it in a nice pot. "Okay, now. I'll just get out my colour packets." The seeker brought out a bunch of packets, each a different colour. "Okay, go ahead and choose."

Ratchet looked at the colours and ended up choosing turquoise, silver, and red.

"Make sure you show me once the colours grow in. I've never seen such a combination, and it's bound to be beautiful." Fireburst said, smiling.

"Okay!" Ratchet said happily as Alerrt paid for the crystal. It only cost about the same as Ironhide's gun, because Fireburst took fifty percent off because Ratchet agreed to show him his progress.

"Thank you so much." Ratchet said to both Alerrt and Fireburst.

"Oh, you're very welcome little one." Fireburst said.

"No problem Ratchet. I'm glad I could find something you like." Alerrt said as he and the younglings were driving home.


End file.
